at the dock a ferry slammed into a pier. 11 in serious condition tonight. >> reporter: a ferry carrying hundreds of commuters from new jersey to new york, crashing into a dock in lower manhattan during the morning rush hour. dozens of people sent to hospitals. >> you know just doing my usual morning routine sipping coffee when there was a tremendous impact my head slammed into the seat in front of me. and then i noticed there were many people down. >> reporter: witnesses say it happened while many passengers were standing, preparing to exit. >> no warning just coming in, in a normal way and instead of stopping we came right through >> it appears the boat missed, hit slip d and continued on and hit slip b. >> reporter: it was recently fitted with a new propulsion system but it is too son to tell if it played -- too soon to tell if it played a role. >> they will look at operations, company management, regulatory compliance of the vessel, regulatory oversight of the vessel by the coast guard and that group will look at human performance. >> reporter: the chairman says the ship's captain wa